Greetings From The Tokyo Marathon!

On Sunday, thousands of runners from across the world competed in the Tokyo Marathon in, I’m guessing, Japan, and the big winner was Ethiopia’s Hailu Mekonnen, who finished in first place and strengthened my belief that people from Africa are good runners. Perhaps the bigger story, though, was Japan’s own Yuki Kawauchi, who finished third, which many consider a remarkable feat for an amateur runner. Or maybe the even bigger story was Britain’s Joseph Tame, who attached four iPhones to his quirky running attire and streamed his entire marathon effort on the Internet to raise money for the Tyler Foundation, a children’s cancer organization in Japan.
Heck, the biggest story was probably Edison Pena, one of the 33 Chilean miners trapped underground for 69 days last October, finishing his second major marathon since the famous ordeal. Pena also ran in the New York marathon only a month after his rescue. In the Tokyo race, he shaved a half hour off his time. And I’m sure there were many, many more runners, each with their own awesome stories.
But it’s really hard to judge so many runners and choose the best story or the bravest performance or even the most inspirational tale. Thankfully, it’s Japan and a bunch of people showed up dressed in really strange costumes. I was disappointed by the lack of creepy old men dressed as school girls, but who am I to be picky? After the jump, you guessed it… wacky Japanese costume slideshow time, courtesy of the 2011 Tokyo Marathon.(Original sources via Buzzfeed and Pink Tentacle)
(Via eri_chan)
(Via Fuzz and Fur)

That picture made my day. I’m still amazed that show hasn’t been made into a Will Ferrell movie.

By: toidi

03.01.2011 @ 10:57 AM

Lobster Dog was robbed…very high slope rating

By: Larry Dolan still sucks

03.01.2011 @ 12:48 PM

I wish I could go back in time and hammer Connie Selleca while she was on that show.

By: Spanky Datass

03.01.2011 @ 7:36 PM

Is that Otto Man in #47 wearing “a Swatch and some snazzy Jamz shorts”? I always pictured him taller.

By: BobbyDigital

03.02.2011 @ 6:34 PM

is that a Blue Waffle in the background ???

By: BobbyDigital

03.02.2011 @ 6:36 PM

is that a blue waffle in the backgroud of pic # 7 ???

By: Netsy

03.08.2011 @ 6:43 AM

To me, the REALLY weird thing is how overdressed all the non-costumed runners are in these photos. It must be a Japanese thing, because whenever I see Japanese runners, they’re almost always wearing full-length tights and/or long sleeves regardless of the temperature. And the surgical masks (which are an Asian thing, not a costume thing!) are especially bizarre.